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Open Recommendations

Transportation Equity: DOT Could Improve Some Performance Goals to Better Assess Progress
GAO-24-105652
Jul 23, 2024
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Transportation The Secretary of Transportation should ensure each equity performance goal has a target or target milestone for the current and subsequent year in DOT's annual performance plan. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Transportation The Secretary of Transportation should clarify the performance measures or associated methodology descriptions for the equity performance goals we identified as being inconsistent with the practice of clarity. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Transportation The Secretary of Transportation should revise the descriptions of accuracy and reliability in DOT's annual performance report for the equity performance goals we identified as not having a sufficient description. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

National Nuclear Security Administration: Guidance Enhancements Could Improve Contractors’ Diversity Plans
GAO-24-107221
Jun 21, 2024
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Energy The Secretary of Energy should update the DOE Acquisition Guide for M&O contractor diversity plans to ensure contractors consider addressing employee involvement in diversity efforts during the development of such plans, consistent with leading practices for diversity management. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Energy The Secretary of Energy should update the DOE Acquisition Guide for M&O contractor diversity plans to ensure contractors consider diversity training requirements during the development of such plans, consistent with leading practices for diversity management. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Energy The Secretary of Energy should update the DOE Acquisition Guide for M&O contractor diversity plans to ensure contractors consider succession planning with a diversity focus during the development of such plans, consistent with leading practices for diversity management. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Improved Oversight Processes Needed to Help Agencies Address Program Deficiencies
GAO-24-105874
Jun 13, 2024
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4 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The Chair of the EEOC should ensure that the Office of Federal Operations improves or automates existing tracking processes for monitoring agencies' timely completion of Management Directive 715 reports. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The Chair of the EEOC should ensure that the Office of Federal Operations enhances its ability to compile and analyze information gathered from its Technical Assistance reviews. For example, EEOC could automate existing features to analyze deficiencies contained in agency Management Directive 715 reports to help it identify EEO trends. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The Chair of the EEOC should ensure that the Office of Federal Operations requires staff to record the information obtained through Technical Assistance reviews, including all deficiencies, using the same tracking tool consistently. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The Chair of the EEOC should ensure that the Office of Federal Operations develops and implements criteria and guidelines for invoking its public notification procedures related to agency noncompliance as stated in Management Directive 110. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Military Justice: Increased Oversight, Data Collection, and Analysis Could Aid Assessment of Racial Disparities
GAO-24-106386
May 23, 2024
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6 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should develop and implement a process to centrally collect and maintain accessible data—including race and ethnicity data—on administrative sanctions, all investigations including commander-directed investigations, appeals, and service members selected to serve on court-martial panels, to facilitate centralized visibility over, and, as necessary, the assessment and reporting of these data. (Recommendation 1)
Open
DOD and the Army concurred with this recommendation and stated that they will take steps to implement it. We will continue to monitor Army actions taken to implement this recommendation and will provide updated information as it is available.
Department of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy should develop and implement a process to centrally collect and maintain accessible data—including race and ethnicity data—on administrative sanctions, all investigations including commander-directed investigations, appeals, and service members selected to serve on court-martial panels to facilitate centralized visibility over, and, as necessary, the assessment and reporting of these data. (Recommendation 2)
Open
DOD and the Navy concurred with this recommendation and stated that they will take steps to implement it. We will continue to monitor Navy actions taken to implement this recommendation and will provide updated information as it is available.
Department of the Air Force The Secretary of the Air Force should develop and implement a process to centrally collect and maintain accessible data—including race and ethnicity data—on all investigations including commander-directed investigations, appeals, and service members selected to serve on court-martial panels to facilitate centralized visibility over, and, as necessary, the assessment and reporting of these data. (Recommendation 3)
Open
DOD and the Air Force partially concurred with this recommendation, stating that the Air Force agrees that it should collect and maintain demographic data on court-martial members, but expressed concerns that such data may present unknown risks to maintaining the integrity of convictions and may require further review, given that convening authorities are specifically prohibited from considering demographic data regarding potential courts-martial members. However, as discussed in our report, the military departments could collect data on the race and ethnicity of court-martial panel members in a way that is sufficiently separated from the trial process to mitigate concerns about convening authorities improperly considering demographic factors. Our report also notes that the Defense Advisory Committee studied this issue with regard to sexual assault trials, demonstrating that collecting and analyzing such data is feasible. The Air Force may be able to leverage these and similar efforts in order to identify risks and the means to avoid or mitigate them. Therefore, we continue to believe that our recommendation is valid and will enable the military departments to better respond to future requests for such information, as well as identify and address the source of existing disparities. We will continue to monitor Air Force actions taken to address this recommendation and will provide updated information as it is available.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness designates a department-level office as the oversight entity responsible for coordinating the military departments' assessments of racial and ethnic disparities in military justice and discipline processes. (Recommendation 4)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation and stated that it will take steps to implement it. We will continue to monitor DOD actions taken to implement this recommendation and will provide updated information as it is available.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure the department-level office designated to oversee coordination of the military departments' racial disparity assessments coordinates with the military departments to establish standard terminology and reporting categories, analyses, and reporting format and content to be used in future assessments of racial disparities in military justice and discipline processes. (Recommendation 5)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation and stated that it will take steps to implement it. We will continue to monitor DOD actions taken to implement this recommendation and will provide updated information as it is available.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that a department-level office is designated to coordinate with the military departments to comprehensively assess the military justice and discipline process to identify all areas where racial and ethnic disparities may exist, including in the selection of court-martial panels and sentencing, and the corresponding analyses to be conducted. (Recommendation 6)
Open
DOD partially concurred with this recommendation, stating that a department-level office will be designated to serve as a resource for the military departments in assessing racial and ethnic disparities but asserted that each military department is best positioned to conduct their own comprehensive analysis to identify all areas where disparities exist within their respective departments. We continue to believe that the recommendation is valid given the complex nature of such an assessment, as the military departments may lack the technical expertise required, as noted in our report. Further, the military departments; efforts to assess disparities to date have included inconsistent data, disparate analyses, and varied report content and scope, resulting in limited usefulness in providing DOD with visibility of disparities across the department. As such, we believe our recommendation remains valid as it will facilitate a comprehensive and consistent assessment and better enable DOD to identify and address racial and ethnic disparities across the military justice system. We will continue to monitory DOD actions taken to address this recommendation and will provide updated information as it is available.
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